UCSS Math I 1.1.2 Example 3

Money deposited in a bank account earns interest on the initial amount deposited as well as any interest earned as time passes. This compound interest can be described by the expression , where represents the initial amount deposited, represents the interest rate, represents the number of months that pass. How does a change in each variable affect the value of the expression?

Refer to the given expression: .

Changing the value of does not change the value of the factor , but it will change the value of the expression by a factor of . In other words, the change in will multiply by the result of .

Similarly, changing changes the base of the exponent (the number that will be multiplied by itself), but does not change the value of . This change will affect the value of the overall expression.

Changing changes the number of times will be multiplied by itself, but does not change the value of . This change will affect the value of the overall expression.

This applet is provided by Walch Education as supplemental material for the UCSS Secondary Math I program. Visit www.walch.com for more information on our resources.